Three days after the general elections, the official results came in on Monday, October 10 in Lesotho. The ruling party confirmed its decline and said it would not be able to form a government. The task will fall to the Revolution for Prosperity party (RFP) and its leader, Sam Matekane. Lesotho’s richest man surprised everyone by winning 56 of the 120 seats in the National Assembly.
Sam Matekane entered politics out of disgust with coalition governments. Since 2012, these heterogeneous assemblies have never lasted until the end of their terms, hence the political instability of Lesotho.
While Sam Matekane is expected to be named the next Prime Minister, he has failed to win an absolute majority. He had hoped to obtain at least 61 seats to govern without concessions. He failed. Despite its very good results for a party launched in March, the Revolution for Prosperity won only 56 seats.
This is a slight setback for the party that had hoped to have a free hand to run Lesotho as it runs its businesses. He will have to talk to the other parties. There is a wide choice: 14 political parties will get seats thanks to a dose of proportional representation.
The ruling Basotho Coalition (ABC) did not win any constituencies, but proportional representation gave it eight seats. The elections were marked by an extremely low turnout: only 37% of registered voters turned out at the polls. The next government’s task will be to rebuild the country and restore public confidence, and its strength will depend on the coalition currently being negotiated.